Raiders prove too much for Bulldogs

BBA junior Sean Apps knocks down a three-pointer during the first half of Friday night's game against Rutland. Apps had two three-pointers in the first half for the Bulldogs in their sixth loss of the season.

BBA junior Carter Vickers drives past a Rutland defender down the baseline and goes up for a layup during the first half of Friday night's game. Vickers had a team-high 13 points in the loss to Rutland.

BBA junior Dylan Kapusta knocks down a pair of free throws during the second half of Friday night's game against Rutland. BBA lost to Rutland, 70-46.

MANCHESTER &GT;&GT; It was a case of the Friday night blues again for the Burr and Burton Academy boys basketball team.

Like last Friday night when the Bulldogs lost to Brattleboro, BBA came up short again yesterday when they were defeated by Rutland, 76-46.

Early on the Bulldogs came out on fire, thanks to the play of their shooting guard, Carter Vickers.

The junior started the game off with a three-pointer and would go on to score five more in the first quarter to give BBA an early 12-8 lead.

The Raiders weren't rattled by the Bulldogs' hot start and grabbed a 18-17 lead going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Rutland continued their strong play thanks to the efforts of Noah Tyson and Nathaniel Kingsley. The two players combined for 24 of the Raiders' 36 first half points and got Rutland out to a 36-24 lead with a few minutes till halftime.

With time to get something going before the half, BBA had an answer through Sean Apps. The junior had his shooting going good as well, nailing a three from the left wing to pull BBA to a 36-27 deficit at the half.

Apps was 2-of-2 from three point range in the final three minutes of the first half for the Bulldogs.

Vickers led the BBA in scoring in the first half with 10 points, while Griff Stalcup knocked seven of his own for the Bulldogs in the half as well.

Needing to do something down nine to start the second half, Stalcup got BBA going with a three-point play to start the half and it looked like the Bulldogs had a comeback win in store for them.

That however wasn't the case, as Rutland began to put the hammer down on the Bulldogs' comeback attempt.

After Stalcup's three-point play, the Raiders outscored BBA 17-4 in the next five minutes to grab a 53-40 lead with two minutes still remaining in the third quarter.

Stalcup nailed a three pointer at the buzzer to make it a 56-37 game going into the final quarter.

BBA continued to fight, pulling within 16 of Rutland with over five minutes to go, but Rutland though would again put the kibosh down on any sort of BBA comeback, this time getting a three-pointer from junior Jimmy Mee that sealed the Raiders 14th win of the season.

Vickers and Stalcup both had a team-high 13 points for BBA in the loss.

"This loss doesn't, I think, show how well we played tonight," said BBA coach Dave Shehadi. "I think we played really well in the first half. We played with great energy and heart from start to finish. Rutland though is a great team and they proved how good they were against us tonight."

With the loss, BBA falls to 10-6 on the season.

The Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday when they will go on the road to play Brattleboro at 7 p.m.

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